Teaching Grammar TEFL

03/08/2020 Teaching Grammar
Teaching Grammar
Site: Premier TEFL Printed by: ALEXIA MARIA

Course: 120-hour Advanced TEFL course Date: Monday, 3 August 2020, 1:04 PM
Book: Teaching Grammar
https://courses.premiertefl.com/mod/book/tool/print/index.php?id=141 1/50
Table of contents
1. Discover China
2. What is Grammar?
3. Meaning
4. Function
5. Teaching Grammar
6. Why Teach Grammar?
7. Grammar methods
8. Basic principles for grammar teaching
9. The English Grammar System
10. Word classes and phrases
11. Sentence level
12. Negatives and questions
13. The verb phrase
14. Time and tense
15. Aspect – Continuous and Perfect
16. Voice – Active and Passive
17. Modality
18. Futurity
19. Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
20. Determiners
21. Approaches to Presenting Grammar
22. The Deductive Approach
23. The Inductive Approach
24. Context Setting
25. How to Practise Grammar
26. Drilling
27. Accuracy-focused activities
28. Fluency-focused activities
29. References
30. Further Reading
31. Useful Websites
2. What is Grammar?
Re ective Task 1
How would you de ne the term ‘grammar’?

Record your initial thoughts and return to this question at the end of the module.
Form
‘This is 01619941222. I am not at home now. Leave a message after the beep.’ (1)
The above is an example of language in use. You will easily recognise it as a typical answerphone message.
This is the text for it. It has three sentences, consisting of words.
The words in turn are sounds when spoken.
All language can similarly be analysed at each of these four levels or forms:
Text.
Sentence.
Word.
Sound.
The study of grammar consists, in part, of analysing the way these forms are arranged and patterned.
For example, if you change the order of the sentences in the short text above, the message conveyed becomes more di cult to
understand:
‘Leave a message after the beep. This is 01619941222. I am not at home now.’
The order of words in each sentence is also fairly xed.
‘Beep after a leave the message.’
The sounds in each word are also xed.
‘peeb’
Grammar is, therefore, partly a study of which forms or structures are possible in a language.
For example, grammar attempts to explain why the following sentences are acceptable.
‘I am not at home now.’ ‘Now I am not at home.’
Grammar also explains why these following sentence are not acceptable.
‘Not I at home now am.’ ‘I is not at home now.’
The system of rules that covers the order of words in a sentence is called syntax. Syntax rules disallow,
‘Not I at home now am.’
1. Discover China
Discover China
The system of rules that covers the formation of words is called morphology. Morphology rules disallow,
‘I is not at home now.’
Grammar is conventionally seen as the study of syntax and morphology, or linguistic chains and slots i.e. the way words are
chained together in a particular order and what kinds of words can slot into any one link in the chain.
For example, consider the following linguistic chains and slots: (2)
1 2 3 4 5
We are not at home
They are in bed
I am at work
He Is in hospital
As you can see, the order of the words on the horizontal axis is fairly xed.
Switching the order of the rst two columns has a major e ect on the meaning.
It turns a sentence such as ‘They are in bed’ into a question: ‘Are they in bed?’ Switching columns 2, 3, 4 or 5 is simply not
possible because of syntax rules.
It is also clear that each element of the chain performs a similar function summarised below:
1 = noun (subject of the sentence)

2 = verb
3 = negative ‘not’
4 = preposition
5 = place
We can, therefore, slot di erent words into the chain above to make more sentences, as in this example.
noun
verb not preposition place
subject
You are not in Turkey
She Is at university
It is not, however, possible to take these slot lling elements and make exible chains out of them i.e. ‘Turkey in you not are’.
Syntax rules do not allow these chains.
Activity 1
Rearrange the words or slots to create correct chains or syntax

Try naming each slot of the chain, for example, verb, noun etc.
1. eating/love/sushi/we
2. Pizza Hut/eaten/at/has/Everyone
3. short/to/used/hair/I/have
Answers
1. We love eating sushi – noun subject + verb + verb ‘ing’ + noun object
2. Everyone has eaten at Pizza Hut – noun subject + verb have + past participle + preposition + noun place
3. I used to have short hair – subject noun + ‘used to’ + verb have + adjective + noun object
Di erent languages, of course, have di erent constraints on the way chains are ordered and slots lled.
This leads to learner errors when producing English resulting from overgeneralising rules from the learner’s own language.
In the example below, the learner has chosen the wrong chain to follow the word ‘want’. (3)
‘I want that your agency return me the money.’
In the following sentence, the chain is correct but the words used to ll certain slots in the chain do not t.
‘Notorious’ has the wrong shade of meaning while ‘scienti c’ is an adjective, not a noun.
‘I have chosen to describe Stephen Hawking, a notorious scienti c of our time.’
3. Meaning
It is important for an English language learner to recognise and produce well-formed sentences but overly-focusing on form
also under equips the learner for real language use.
For example, consider the sentence below.
‘My uncle jumps every year.’
The sentence is grammatically correct i.e. it follows syntax and morphology rules but it lacks real meaning, especially out of
context.
The following text, though grammatically correct, also does not make sense: (4)
‘This is 01619941222. I am home now. Leave a message after the beep.’
Though the sentence, ‘I am home now.’ is grammatically correct, it does not make sense in the context of an answerphone
message.
We would expect someone who is at home to answer the phone rather than rely on an answerphone message.
Another aspect of grammar is, therefore, its meaning-making potential.
Meaning can be communicated through grammar and vocabulary.
Sometimes meaning can be simply communicated through vocabulary without the need for grammar.
For example, on a train, the ticket inspector will say, ‘Tickets.’ It is very clear from the context the meaning he wants to convey
i.e. he wants to check your train ticket.
However, if contextual information is lacking, grammar is needed to make meaning clear.
For example, if Milly is phoning Molly to ask Mandy to forward some pre-booked concert tickets, the word ‘tickets’ would be
inadequate and a sentence like the one below would be needed: (5)
‘Can you ask Mandy to send me the tickets that I booked last week?’
Grammatical forms convey two kinds of meaning representing the two main purposes of language: (6)
Representational.
Interpersonal.
Representational meaning re ects the way we perceive the world.
Events or processes are conveyed by verbs, for example, ‘The sun sets.’.
Events or processes are intiated by people or things conveyed by nouns. These nouns then become the subject of the verb.
For example, ‘The children are playing.’.
Events or processes have an e ect on other people or things conveyed by nouns. These become the object of the verb. For
example, ‘The dog chased the cat.’.
The events take place in particular circumstances in time or space and these are encoded in adverbials. For example, ‘The dog
chased the cat in the garden.’.
Time can be conveyed by the use of tense. For example, ‘The children were playing.’
Events can be seen in their entirety. For example, ‘The sun sets.’ or ‘The sun was setting.’. The di erence between these
sentences is conveyed by aspect. Tense and aspect combine to form a wide range of meanings.
Activity 2
What are the representational meanings of the words or phrases

underlined below?
1. The children were playing the garden.

2. I really love listening to the Beatles.
3. He drove all around Europe in an old camper van.
4. I was dancing all night.
5. The police arrested a notorious criminal last night.
Answers
1. Noun subject
2. Noun object
3. Adverbial
4. Aspect (continuous)
5. Verb
Interpersonal meaning is re ected in the way grammar is used to ease the task of getting things done. (7)
For example, the same meaning can be conveyed by the following forms:
‘Tickets!’.
‘Tickets please’.
‘Can you show me your tickets, please?’.
‘Please’ is a lexical way of softening the command ‘tickets’. Using the modal verb ‘can’ and using a question or request rather
than a command is a grammatical way of softening the message.
Though di erent forms are used, the same meaning is conveyed but di erent choices are made with regards to form by the
speaker based on the situation.
An irate passenger, for example, may not respond to a command but may respond to a polite request.
4. Function
Meaning, however, is not simply a case of unpacking a sentence’s words and phrases.
Consider the following exchange, from the lm Clueless, between a father and a young man who has arrived to take his
daughter out: (7)
Father Do you drink?

Young Man No, thanks, I’m cool.
‘I’m not o ering. I’m asking if you drink. Do you
Father think I’d o er alcohol to teenage drivers taking my
daughter out?
In this exchange, the young man clearly misunderstood the father’s question, misconstruing a request for information as an
o er.
He understood both the form and the meaning. However, he didn’t understand the father’s intended meaning i.e. the function
of the question.
There is more than one function to the question ‘do you drink?’ and intended meaning is inferred in context.
When we process language, we try to make sense of the words and grammar as well as inferring the speaker’s intended
meaning or function.
From the mid-1970s, the relationship between grammar and function became an important consideration for EFL teaching.
There was a movement away from teaching grammatical structures as forms to teaching functions and di erent forms used to
express these functions with the focus on communicating real meaning.
For example, the forms below can all be used to express the function of giving advice:
‘You should go to the doctor.’

‘If I were you, I’d go to the doctor.’
‘Go to the doctor!’
The same form can be used to express a range of di erent functions.
For example, the 1st conditional form can be used to express a wide range of functions: (8)
‘If you do that, you’ll be in trouble.’

‘If you lie down, you’ll feel better.’
‘If you pass your driving test, I’ll buy you a car.’
‘If you wash up, I’ll dry.’
‘If you call the police, I’ll shoot.’
Grammatical structures can be placed under the functional labels below:
Inviting.
Making plans.
Making requests.
Giving opinions – agreeing and disagreeing.
Giving advice.
Making o ers and giving suggestions.
Obligation, prohibition and permission.
Expressing regret.
Probability and possibilities.
Habits and routines.
Activity 3
Look at the following groups of forms and decide which function

they all have in common.
Form Function
I used to play football.

1 I go to work every day.
He’s always buying me owers.
You can't smoke here.

2 You’re allowed to wear jeans to work.
Alcohol is permitted in the bar area.
Let’s go to the cinema.

3 Shall I call a taxi?
We could try that new Italian.
If I hadn’t got married too young, I

could’ve travelled the world.
4
If only I’d listened!
I wish I’d met him in my 20s!
Answers
1. Habits and routines

2. Obligation, prohibition and permission
3. Making o ers and giving suggestions
4. Expressing regret
Though it is useful to group grammatical structures in terms of functions, as exempli ed in the earlier extract from Clueless, to
successfully match form and function, it is necessary to read clues from the context to understand the speaker’s meaning.
In Module 3, we considered the importance of planning a suitable context when teaching grammar and vocabulary.
Later in this module, we will consider planning suitable contexts and ways of building context when teaching grammatical
structures.
5. Teaching Grammar
There are a number of considerations to think about when teaching grammar.
For most teachers, the decision about what grammar to teach and in which order is decided by the course book or syllabus.
The criteria for deciding which items to put in a syllabus are decided by: (9)
1. Usefulness.
2. Frequency.
Usefulness may sometimes depend on the speci c needs of the learners.
For example, if a group of learners need to learn English to primarily write in English, written features of English such as
reported speech will be more useful.
If a group of learners need to learn English to primarily speak in English, spoken features of English such as making o ers and
requests will be more useful.
Many syllabi use a core grammar that will be useful to all learners, whatever their needs.
Criteria for grading the syllabus, or putting the items in order, include: (10)
1. Complexity.
2. Learnability.
3. Teachability.
Complexity
An item is complex if it has a number of elements and the more elements, the more complex the form.
For example, ‘I have been reading’ is more complex than ‘I am reading’ while ‘I will have been reading’ is more complex still.
Logic dictates that the less complex structures be taught rst.
Learnability
When considering learnability, research into the natural order of language acquisition has shown that learners acquire
grammatical forms in a predictable order.
Like children acquiring their mother tongue, learners of a foreign language will also go through certain stages in their language
learning.
For example, when learning past tense forms, regular forms (e.g. watched, washed) are acquired earlier than irregular forms
(e.g. swam, wrote) and syllabi re ects these stages.
Teachability
A third factor that in uences syllabus design is teachability, i.e. how easy it is to demonstrate the meaning of a particular
structure.
For example, it is relatively easy to demonstrate the meaning of Present Continuous (e.g. ‘I’m listening to music.’).
It is more di cult to demonstrate the meaning of hypothetical language (e.g. ‘If I’d gone to university, I would’ve become a
doctor.’).
Therefore, such language is often taught at a higher level, by which time simpler structures can be used to demonstrate and
check meaning.
6. Why Teach Grammar?
Re ective Task 2
What do you consider the pros and cons of teaching grammar?
Pros Cons
Pros and cons of teaching grammar

As highlighted in Module 1, there has been much historical debate regarding the advantages and disadvantages of putting grammar in the foreground
and it is useful to be aware of some of these arguments. (11)
The pros are as follows:
Grammar as a sentence-machine.
Learning grammatical structures or patterns gives the learner the means for potentially limitless linguistic creativity.
Learners can communicate whatever they want once they have the structures in mind.
Fine-tuning.
Grammar allows for greater subtlety of meaning than vocabulary.
To avoid fossilisation.
Motivated learners can learn a language to a certain level of proficiency with formal study.
However, these learners often reach a plateau, beyond which it is difficult to progress.
Errors then become fossilised. However, grammar instruction can help to avoid fossilisation.
Advance-organiser.
Having an awareness of grammatical structures can help learners notice such language used in texts and interaction, thereby aiding language
acquisition.
Discrete Item.
By organising grammar into tidy categories, language learning becomes more digestible.
Rule-of-law.
Structured grammar rules can be taught and tested in methodical steps.
Learner expectations.
Many learners come to a language class with fixed expectations, including the teaching of grammar.
The cons are as follows:
Experiential learning.
It is possible to learn all the grammar rules but not be given the chance to use these rules in real-life communication.
For example, if you know all the grammar rules but do not know how to use these rules to order a coffee or hire a taxi, communication is not possible.
Communication.
There is more to learning a language than just knowing it’s grammar system.
Communication can be successful even if the grammatical structures used are incorrect.
For example, the grammatically incorrect sentence ‘I go to the cinema last night’ causes no communication problems.
However, the grammatically correct sentence ‘I went to the orange last night’, using an incorrect word, causes confusion and a break down in
communication.
Acquisition.
Research by the linguist Stephen Krashen and others led some to argue that second language learning could mirror the way children learn their first
language, without formal instruction on grammatical rules.
Natural Order.
Noam Chomsky and others argued that there is a natural order in which learners learn grammar irrespective as to how grammar is taught in class.
For example, English-speaking children as well as foreign learners are likely to go through a phase of saying ‘I no like chips.’ before they progress to ‘I
don’t like chips.’.
Lexical chunks.
Michael Lewis and other proponents of the Lexical Approach argued that all language is essentially chunks of vocabulary items, for example, ‘Have a
nice day.’.
A lexical approach to language learning promotes the learning of chunks of language such as, ‘Have you ever been…?’, without labelling this as a
Present Perfect question form.
Learner expectations.
Many learners of English come to language classes, having already studied English grammar for many years.
Even so-called Beginner level students may already have a bank of passive grammar knowledge.
Students often come to language classes with the aim of speaking English, i.e. producing the language.
7. Grammar methods
Over the last 100 or more years, the architects of language teaching methods have been concerned with the following
regarding the teaching of grammar: (12)
Should the method adhere to a grammar syllabus?

Should the rules of grammar be explicit?
As discussed in Module 1, answers to the questions above have changed over the years as seen in some of the main methods
and approaches to teaching English:
Grammar-Translation – Focus on grammar with an explicit focus on rules.

Direct Method – Focus on speaking skills and rejected explicit grammar teaching.
Audiolingualism – Focus on speaking skills and was even more strict in its rejection of explicit grammar teaching.
Communicative Language Teaching – Focus on speaking skills but explicit focus on grammar teaching in the form of
functions.
Even in methods where grammar rules were made explicit, there was a di erent emphasis on the way the learner arrived at
these rules with two broadly di erent approaches to grammar teaching:
The deductive approach – Rules are explicitly presented to the learners and they are given practice in using them.
The inductive approach – Students study examples and work out the rules for themselves.
We will look at these two approaches in greater detail later in the module.
It has been said that grammar has experienced a ‘revival’ (13) in current EFL teaching because of the emergence of two
theoretical concepts:
Focus on form.
Consciousness-raising.
Research suggests that without some focus on form, learners run the risk of fossilisation.
While Krashen and others argued that learners can learn by being exposed to large doses of comprehensible input, others
argue that learners need to be consciously trained in noticing language contained in such input.
For example, learners can have their consciousness about the use of past tenses raised by underlining past tense forms used in
a newspaper article, then discuss why such forms are used.
To sum up, current thinking about teaching grammar is that if the teacher uses techniques to direct attention to form, and
provides activities that promote awareness of grammar, then learning is the result.
The communicative movement embraces grammar with a focus on meaning.
8. Basic principles for grammar teaching
The following principles are useful when thinking about grammar teaching: (14)
E ciency = economy, ease and e cacy

As teaching grammar is only part of a teacher’s activities, it is important that this is done as e ciently as possible.
Prolonged attention to grammar is di cult to justify as the teacher’s attention should be partly directed at getting their learners
to communicate.
Economy is a key factor in any kind of training and, the more instructions given, the more confused a learner will be.
Likewise, the easier an activity is to set up, the better it is.
The most important factor is e cacy i.e. will it work? The e cacy of a grammar activity can be measured by the attention it
arouses, the quality of contextual information, explanation and checking, as well as how memorable it is to learners.
We will consider practical ideas later in the module.
Appropriacy
All learners of English are di erent so an activity that works for one group of learners may not be appropriate for another
group of learners.
For example, a lesson based on discussing personal regrets to teach the 3rd conditional structure (e.g. ‘If I’d studied medicine, I
would’ve become a doctor.’) is appropriate for a group of adult learners but the same lesson will be less successful delivered to
a group of teenagers or younger learners, as they may not be familiar with the concept of regret.
Factors which in uence appropriacy include:
Age.
Level.
Group size.
Monolingual or multilingual group.
Learner needs.
Learner interests.
Materials and resources available.
Previous learning experience.
Cultural factors.
Educational context.
9. The English Grammar System
The purpose of this section is to introduce you to some key grammatical structures and concepts used in the English grammar
system.
You are not expected to be a grammar expert by the end of the section and it is advisable to purchase a grammar book to refer
to before and during your planning.
Suitable grammar books are included in the ‘Further Reading’ section at the end of this module.
Some of the explanations of the grammar points will start with a short activity so you can see how much you already know
about the grammar points.
Whether you are very familiar with the grammar system or not, it will be useful to attempt these activities, perhaps referring
back to them after each mini section to re-assess what you know.
It is highly likely that when you start teaching, your students may be more familiar with the names of di erent grammatical
structures than you.
While that may seem daunting, it is always important to remember that, as a teacher, you are likely to be either a native
speaker of English or a very high level non-native speaker of English so have the knowledge and experience of using English to
assist your learners.
If you are a native speaker of English, you will nd that high level non-native English speaking colleagues can be a valuable
resource to refer to about their experience of using English.
If you are a high level non-native speaker of English, native speakers can also be a valuable resource as native speakers will
have learned and use English without reference to grammar rules.
10. Word classes and phrases
A basic understanding of word classes and phrases, often called ‘parts of speech’ is a useful starting point for our consideration
of the English grammar system. (15)
Activity 4
Can you nd an example of each part of speech in the short text

below?
1. Noun
2. Pronoun
3. Verb
4. Adjective
5. Adverb
6. Preposition
7. Determiner
8. Conjunction
In the early summer of 1933 I started out for my rst walking

tour.
I left my grand-fathers’ house at Hen eld in Sussex one evening

and walked towards the river.
My aunt seemed glad to get rid of me. She speeded me on my

way rather too happily and quickly.
Some suggested Answers:
1. Tour, house, river, aunt, way

2. I, my, she
3. Started, left, walked, seemed, to be, speeded
4. Early, rst, pleased, rid
5. Happily, quickly
6. Of, out, for, at, in, on, towards
7. The
8. and
The purpose of the parts of speech listed above can be summarised below:
Noun: A word which names things, people, places, objects, activities etc.
Pronoun: A word applied to a subject or object which substitutes for a noun.
Verb: A word that expresses an action, process or state.
Adjective: A word that identi es an aspect of a noun.
Adverb: A word that speci es the time, place or manner of a verb.
Preposition: A word that relates the nouns to other elements, for example, time and place.
Determiner: A word used in front of a noun to express number and quantity.
Conjunction: A word used to link clauses or words to each other.
Analysis of the rst sentence in the example shows that many of the words in sentences cluster in groups as below.
In the early summer of 1993

Started out
For my rst walking tour
These groupings are called phrases and have functions like individual parts of speech:
Noun phrase e.g. ‘my grandfather’s house'.

Verb phrase e.g. ‘started out’.
Adjective phrase e.g. ‘pleased to be rid of me’.
Adverb phrase e.g. ‘rather too happily’.
Prepositional phrase e.g. ‘towards the river’.
11. Sentence level
Sentence Elements
There are ve di erent types of sentence elements: (16)
Subject: Identi es the topic of the sentence and agent of the action.
Verb: Expresses an action, process or state.
Object: Identi es who or what is a ected by the action.
Complement: Gives further information about some element.
Adverbial: Gives information about the time, manner or place of the situation.
Activity 5
Identify the di erent sentence elements in the example sentence

below.
Yesterday, the police arrested a petty thief red-handed with his

hand in the till.
Answers
1. Subject – the police

2. Verb – arrested
3. Object – thief
4. Complement – red-handed with his hand in the till
5. Adverbial - yesterday
Sentence Structures
There are four types of sentence structures:
1. Simple Sentence: This contains one independent clause. For example: I will do some studying.
2. Complex sentences are those that consist of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. The independent
clause can stand alone as a sentence but a dependent clause cannot.
An example of a complex sentence below shows the independent clause underlined and the dependent clause in bold:
I will do some studying before I have dinner.
Dependent Clauses include relative, noun and adverbial clauses:
Dependent
Example
Clause
Relative Clause There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn’t know what
Noun Clause
to do.
Adverbial As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with
Clause seven wives.
3. Compound Sentences have 2 or more independent clauses. For example: I will do some studying and I will go for a run.
4. Compound - Complex Sentences have at least 2 independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. For example: I will
do some studying and I will go for a run before I have dinner.
12. Negatives and questions
English uses a variety of syntactic and lexical features to form negative statements.
Types of negation Example

Not-negation I’m not like you.
Auxiliary (do + not) I don’t like dancing.
A negative pronoun Nothing she says makes sense.
A negative determiner There is no bread left.
My father was the only one doing any
A non-assertive form
work.
There are a number of di erent question types.
Question Type Question Purpose Example

To elicit either a
Yes-no question Are you cold? Yes/no
yes/no answer.
To elicit an open
Where do you come
Wh-question response, not limited
from?
to yes/no.
An easily identi able
question form – Where do you come
Direct question
compare with an from?
indirect question.
Often used in polite
I wonder if you could
Indirect request – a question
tell me where the
question is implied rather than
station is?
clearly stated.
The questioner seeks
Which country did
information about
Object question Columbus discover?
the verb, its object
America.
and adverbial.
The questioner seeks
information about Who discovered
Subject question
the subject of the America? Columbus.
verb.
A question is Co ee? NB – raised
Intonation
signalled by means intonation indicates this
question
of intonation only. is a question.
John Lennon was shot in
A short question at
1980, wasn’t he?
the end of a
Tag question
statement to clarify You’re from Canada,
or ask for agreement. aren’t you?
There are slightly di erent ways of forming questions in di erent tenses. However, the general rules are below:
Question type Form Example

Direct yes/no
questions verb to To be + subject Are you OK?
be
Direct yes/no
Did you go to the
questions other Aux + subject + verb
cinema?
verbs
Direct wh-question Wh Q + to be +
Where are you from?
verb to be subject
When did Queen
Direct wh-question Wh Q + aux + subject
release Bohemian
other verbs + verb
Rhapsody?
Indirect question Phrase + if + subject I wonder if you are
yes/no + verb OK.
Indirect question Phrase + Wh Q + I wonder where you
Wh Q subject +verb are
Subject question Wh Q + verb? Who shot JFK?
You’re hungry, aren’t
Positive statement +
you?
negative tag
Tag question Doctor Who wasn’t
Negative statement +
on TV last night, was
positive tag
it?
13. The verb phrase
This section introduces the areas of grammatical tenses, which is the main focus of most grammar and teaching materials.
Activity 6
Look at the example sentence below. How many di erent

sentences can you make by changing the verb? Think about
di erent times and aspects.
I eat chocolate.
Suggested Answers
I’m eating chocolate

I ate chocolate
I was eating chocolate
I’ve eaten chocolate
I’ve been eating chocolate
I had eaten chocolate
I had been eating chocolate
I’m going to eat chocolate
I’ll eat chocolate
I’ll be eating chocolate
I’ll have eaten chocolate
Verbs are modi ed according to the rules of grammar morphology in the following ways to form di erent structures.
Verb type Explanation Example

In nitive Full form of the verb To write
Base
Verb without ‘to’ write
in nitive
Verb modi ed with –ed in
Regular verb watched
past tenses
Irregular Verb which does not form
wrote
verb past tenses with –ed
Verb which carries the Jude doesn’t like
Lexical verb
meaning in a sentence nuts.
‘Helping’ verbs used within
Simon hasn’t posted
Auxiliary grammatical structures
on Facebook
verb which don’t carry lexical
recently.
meaning
Present
Verb with an –ing ending swimming
participle
Past 3rd form of the verb used I’ve eaten a lot of
participle with the perfect aspect cheese today.
Base form of the verb
Imperative without ‘to’ used to give Close the door!
orders or commands.
Lexical verbs followed by
Chain verbs I sing to earn a living.
other lexical verbs
Transitive I drank loads of

A verb which takes an object
verb co ee today.
Intransitive A verb which doesn’t take an
The prices soared.
verb object
A verb which describes a
Stative state to describe being,
I have a son.
verbs possessing, feelings or
thought processes
Dynamic A verb which describes an The cow jumped
verbs action over the moon.
Activity 7
Can you complete the following grid?
Perfect
Time Simple Continuous Perfect
Continuous
Present I watch TV
I was I had been
Past
watching TV watching TV
I will watch I will have
Future
TV watched
Answers
Perfect
Continuous
I am I have I have been
Present I watch TV
watching TV watched TV watching TV
I was
I watched I had I had been
Past watching
TV watched TV watching TV
TV.
I will have
I will watch I will be I will have
Future been
TV watching TV watched
watching TV
Activity 8
Can you identify the underlined verb forms in the text below?
Cathy and Jude share a modern 2-bedroomed at in

Manchester. ‘I’ve lived here for two years’ said Cathy.
‘I moved in after I’d started a new job so couldn’t get very much
time o work. We’ve been redecorating recently and putting
together new furniture. As soon as we’ve nished, we’ll
take some time o and go on holiday.’
Answers
1. Present Simple
2. Present Perfect Simple
3. Past Simple
4. Past Perfect Simple
5. Present Perfect Continuous
6. Present Perfect Simple
7. Future Simple
14. Time and tense
One of the purposes of grammar is to identify the relationship between tense and real time.
Activity 9
Look at the sentences below. In each sentence identify the tense

and the time reference.
Example Sentence Tense Time Reference

I eat chocolate.
The plane leaves
tomorrow.
I met him yesterday.
If I won the lottery, I
would travel around
the world.
I’ll phone you
tonight.
If it rains, I’ll stay in.
Answers
Example Sentence Tense Time Reference

I eat chocolate. Present Simple Present
The plane leaves
Present Simple Future
tomorrow.
I met him yesterday. Past Simple Past
If I won the lottery, I
Present/Future
would travel around Past Simple
possibility
the world.
I’ll phone you
Future Simple Future
tonight.
If it rains, I’ll stay in. Present Simple Future possibility
As you can see from the examples below, tenses can be used to describe di erent time references as exempli ed by the
Present Simple tense below.
The examples are ordered in terms of frequency and order of acquisition.
For example, it would be appropriate to teach Present Simple tense for Present habits or routines and states to Beginner and
Elementary learners, for future scheduled events at Intermediate level and conditionals and adverbial clauses at Intermediate
and higher levels.
Time Reference Example

Present habits or routines I go to work every day.
She comes from a tennis-
Present and timeless states
playing family.
Repeated events in the
Noah always beats Curran.
present
Future scheduled events The concert nishes at 8pm.
She puts her head down and

Instantaneous events in the
smashes the ball over the net
present
(sports commentary).
Adverbial clauses of time and I’ll never get married again,
conditional clauses unless I nd true love.
Police discover crack in
Past events
Australia.
Activity 10
Look at the Past Simple forms in the extract below.
Decide if they are examples of past states, past events or past

habits. (18)
Rachel always hurried past the vet’s house. The basement

cattery seemed to her to be a sinister place. On the crowded
train a man gave up his seat to Rachel and she accepted it
gracefully. She expected courtesy from men and
often received it.
Answers
1. Hurried – past habit

2. Seemed – past state
3. Gave – past event
4. Accepted – past event
5. Expected – past state
6. Received – past habit
Past Simple is used to describe past states, past events and past habits as well as describing hypothetical meaning with a
present time reference.
Activity 11
Identify the examples of Past Perfect Simple in the passage

below.
Carole and Robert went to Australia in August. They’d always

wanted to go and had saved up for a long time. After they’d
been there for only a few hours, Robert started to feel really ill.
Fortunately, the illness didn’t last long and they both enjoyed
the rest of the holiday.
Answers
They’d always wanted to go

Had saved
They’d been there
Past Perfect Simple is usually used with Past Simple to highlight that one action happened before another action in the past.
For example, in the sentence above, ‘been there for only a few hours’ happened before Robert ‘started to feel really ill’.
15. Aspect – Continuous and Perfect
The di erent ways of marking a verb phrase to convey the speaker’s perception of the event is called ‘aspect’.
Tenses not marked by aspect are called Simple tenses.
There are two aspects in English:
Continuous. For example, ‘I’m working now.’.

Perfect. For example, ‘I’ve worked all day.’.
The continuous aspect is used when the speaker perceives an action as being in progress, having limited duration or
incomplete or temporary.
Simple and continuous tense forms are often interchangeable depending on the speaker’s perception of the situation.
For example, in the rst sentence below, the speaker views his situation as permanent.
In the second sentence, the situation is viewed as temporary.
Even though the speaker has been driving taxis for 20 years, he hopes to do something else in the future.
I drive taxis for a living.

I’m driving taxis for a living.
The continuous aspect is formed by the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ and the present participle i.e. subject + verb to be + present
participle.
Here is a list of a number of di erent uses for the Present Continuous tense.
Use Example
Events in progress at the I’m listening to the radio at the
time of speaking moment.
I’m working in McDonalds for a
Temporary situations in the
few weeks while I nish
present
university.
Changing or developing
Prices are rising.
events in the present
Repeated actions in the He’s always singing in the
present shower.
The sun is shining. The birds are
Describe the background to
singing. I’m in love and life is
an event
wonderful.
Present arrangement for a
I’m ying to Ireland next week.
future event
The Past Continuous tense can also be used to describe events in progress at the time of speaking, temporary situations in the
past, changing events in the past, repeated actions in the past and describing the background to an event.
Past Continuous is also often used with Past Simple in narratives to compare two actions in which one action is interrupted by
another action.
For example,
‘The phone rang while John was watching TV’.
In the example sentence above, John started watching TV before the phone rang.
The short, completed action of the phone ringing interrupted the longer action of TV watching.
In grammatical terms, the term ‘Perfect’ means ‘complete’.
The perfect aspect is used to compare two di erent times.
The speaker looks back from one time to the time before and views the action described as completed.
For example, in the sentence ‘I’ve been to Turkey.’ (Present Perfect Simple), the speaker is talking from the present time looking
back at an unspeci ed past time viewed as completed.
In the sentence, ‘By the end of the evening, I’ll have nished the assignment.’ the speaker is imagining themselves at a future
point in time (end of the evening) looking back at an earlier future time and viewing the action as completed (have nished).
Present Perfect Simple is used to link the present and past times and has the following uses. (19)
Use Explanation Example

A present state is
viewed as being the I’ve eaten too much
Perfect of result
result of a past (and now I feel sick).
situation.
A situation has
occurred at least
Experiential Perfect once during the past I’ve been to Turkey.
leading up to the
present.
A situation that
Perfect of started in the past I’ve known him for
persistent situation and persists until the years.
present.
Perfect of recent I’ve just passed my
A recent past action
past. test!
The Present Perfect Continuous is used to suggest the incompleteness of an activity that started in the past and continued to
the present for example ‘I’ve been listening to the radio all day’ i.e. the action started in the past, is still happening and is likely
to continue into the future.
16. Voice – Active and Passive
English also has two voices – active and passive.
In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence is at the start of the sentence, followed by the verb then the object.
In a passive sentence, the sentence starts with the object, followed by the verb form in the passive voice then possibly followed
by the subject.
Compare the two sentences below:
An unknown assassin shot JF Kennedy. (active)

JF Kennedy was shot by an unknown assassin. (passive)
The passive voice is often used when we want to place more importance on the object of the sentence.
In the passive example above, the assassination of JF Kennedy is more important than the unknown person who carried it out.
The passive voice is formed using the verb ‘to be’ in the appropriate tense followed by the past participle i.e. subject + verb to
be + past participle.
The passive voice can also be used for the following reasons:
The object is more important e.g. ‘JF Kennedy was shot.’ (by an unknown assailant).
The subject is unknown e.g. ‘My laptop was stolen last night.’.
Formal register e.g. ‘You are advised to buy home insurance.’.
Activity 12
Complete the grid below with the correct passive forms.

Co ee is
Present
grown.
Co ee was
Past being
grown.
Co ee will
Future have been
grown.
Answers

Co ee is Co ee has
Co ee is
Present being been
grown.
grown. grown.
Co ee was Co ee had
Co ee was
Past being been
grown
grown. grown.
Co ee will Co ee will
Co ee will
Future be being have been
be grown
grown. grown.
17. Modality
As well as being marked for tense, aspect and voice, verbs can be marked for modality.
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that function as an indicator of the speaker’s judgement about the likelihood or desirability of
the situation.
They convey a range of di erent meanings and some modal verbs can express a range of di erent meanings, depending on the
context. (20)
Activity 13
Identify the modal verbs in the following sentences.

What meaning does each modal verb convey?
1. You can’t apply in person.

2. You must send your application by mail.
3. You should expect a minimum of a 2 week wait.
4. You will need an application form.
Answers
1. Can’t – prohibition
2. Must – strong obligation
3. Should – obligation
4. Will – future
Modal verbs function di erently syntactically compared to lexical verbs in the following ways:
They take the in nitive without ‘to’.
For example, ‘You must go.’ NOT ‘You need to go.’.
There is no 3rd person form.
For example, ‘He must go’ NOT ‘He must goes’.
The negative is formed by adding not.
For example, ‘He must not’ NOT ‘He didn’t go’.
The question is formed by inversion.
For example, ‘Must you go?’ NOT ‘Do you have to go?’.
Modal verbs can’t be preceded with another auxiliary verb.

There is no past form.
Modal verbs express at least two meanings.
All modal verbs are used to talk about probability/possibility.

Each modal has another particular meaning classed as human wishes, abilities and obligations.
The chart below shows some concepts expressed by common modal verbs:
May/may
Can/can’t Could/couldn’t Might/mightn’t Should/shouldn’t Must/mustn’t
not
Likelihood/Probability Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ability Yes Yes

Permission Yes Yes Yes
Prohibition Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Obligation Yes Yes
18. Futurity
Simply put, there is no future in English.
The above sounds strange because we have already discussed ways of expressing the future.
However, unlike other languages, there is no speci c tense form to express futurity.
We have previously discussed ways of forming the future using the modal verb ‘will’ and the form will + base in nitive.
For example, ‘I will go’, is often referred to as the Future Simple.
However, futurity can also be expressed in the forms below.
Future Form Function Example

Future Simple Future predictions Prices will rise.
Predicted continuous I’ll be getting up early
Future Continuous
future actions tomorrow.
I’ll have nished my
Predicted completed
Future Perfect assignment by next
future action
week.
The plane leaves at
Present Simple Scheduled events
6pm.
Arrangements or I’m meeting friends
Present Continuous
appointments tonight.
I’m going to visit my
‘Going to’ Future plans
parents tonight.
The choice of future form is determined by the speaker’s perception of how the future event is to come about.
It will rain tomorrow (prediction) – This is the prediction based on evidence.

It’s going to rain (planned event) – I can see the clouds forming right now.
19. Hypothetical meaning and conditionals
Hypothetical meaning is meaning expressed through conditional sentences, described as ‘real’ or ‘unreal’ conditionals.
Conditional sentences are formed from two clauses.
The main clause expresses the proposition, quali ed by the dependent or condition clause.
The conjunction ‘if’ is often, though not exclusively used to link both clauses.
For example, ‘If it rains tomorrow (proposition), I’ll bring my umbrella (condition or result).’.
The modal verb ‘will’ is used in real conditionals, while ‘would’ is used in unreal conditional.
In real conditionals, the verb form refers to real time, indicating that the events or states expressed are theoretically possible.
In unreal conditionals, the verb forms do not refer to real time as the events or states described are unlikely or impossible.
A process of back-shifting in the verb form occurs.
The conditional forms are summarised below.
Conditional Time
Real/Unreal Example
Form Reference
Zero All Real If it rains, you get wet.
If it rains tomorrow, I’ll take
First Future Real
an umbrella.
If I won the lottery, I would
Second Present/future Unreal
travel around the world.
If I had married him, I would
Third Past Unreal
have been happy.
Mixed (2 If I had studied medicine, I
Past/Present Unreal
and 3) would be a doctor.
While real conditionals express probability or possibility, unreal conditionals related to present time are used to express the
following functions:
Hypothesising about unlikely or impossible situations e.g. ‘If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.'.
Giving advice e.g. ‘If I were you, I would go to the doctor.’.
In older English, the subjunctive mood was used to express hypothetical meaning.
The subjunctive mood can still be seen in the use of ‘were’ instead of ‘was’ when giving advice using a Second Conditional form.
In modern English, it has become acceptable to also say ‘If I was you’ and course books and grammars will teach both forms.
The Third and Mixed Conditional forms are also used to express past regret.
For example, ‘If I had got married, I would’ve been happy.’.
In addition to conditional forms, hypothetical meaning can also be expressed using the following phrases.
Phrase Function Example

Wish + could Desire for an ability I wish I could drive.
Desire for something
Wish + past simple I wish you drove.
to change
I wish I hadn’t met

Wish + past perfect Past regret
him
If I only I hadn’t got
If only Past regret
that tattoo.
It’s time + subject + Hypothetical It’s time you went
past simple meaning home.
20. Determiners
Determiners are a class of words used with nouns and have the function of de ning the reference of the noun in some way.
Determiners are classi ed as:
Articles – the/a/no article
Articles have the following rules:
Article Rule Example

Only one The sun is out.
Mentioned
I met a girl. The girl told me her name.
before
It is clear which Can you close the door? (i.e. only one
The
one we mean door)
Physical The town/the mountains/the river
environment Thames
Superlatives The biggest mountain
One of many I met a girl.
Any one
A
member of a Can I see a doctor?
group
Proper names Manchester/Catherine/Queen Street
No Plurals Books are expensive
article Uncountable
The co ee smells great.
nouns
Some/any
Some is mainly used in a rmative statements and ‘any’ in negative statements and questions.
They are used in the following ways.
Limited but vague numbers or quantities. For example, ‘We’ve planted some roses’.
With uncountable and plural nouns. For example, ‘some cheese’, ‘I don’t have any eggs’.
21. Approaches to Presenting Grammar
As discussed earlier, there are two approaches to teaching grammar:
The deductive - Rules are explicitly presented to the learners and they are given practise in using them.
The inductive - Students study examples and work out the rules for themselves.
22. The Deductive Approach
The deductive, rule-driven approach to language learning was traditionally associated with the Grammar-Translation method
and a rule-driven approach can be used when appropriate in modern EFL classes.
Re ective Task 3
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a deductive
approach to language learning?
Advantages Disadvantages
The advantages of a deductive approach are as follows: (21)
It gets straight to the point and can be time-saving. Some rules can be more simply and e ciently explained than deduced
from examples.
It acknowledges the role of cognitive processes in language learning.
It meets student expectations of how language are learned. Learners with an analytical learning style enjoy these lessons.
It allows for teachers to deal with language points as they come up.
The disadvantages of a deductive approach are as follows:
Starting the lesson o with a grammar presentation may be o -putting for learners.
Grammar explanation encourages a teacher-centred approach.
Explanation is seldom as memorable as other forms of presentation such as demonstration.
A deductive approach encourages the belief that learning a language is simply a case of learning the rules.
The success of a rule-driven approach hinges on the quality of the rule explanation. A good rule follows the following criteria:
Accuracy. Rules should be true, describing the grammatical structure accurately.

Limitation. Rules should show clearly what the limits to the use of a given form are.
Clarity. Rules should be clear and easily understood.
Simplicity. Rules should be simple with a limited number of exceptions.
Familiarity. An explanation should make use of concepts already familiar to learners.
Relevance. A rule should answer only those questions that the students need answered.
The explanation is staged in two parts:
Stage 1: Rule of Form - a teacher draws attention to the grammatical form.

Stage 2: Rule of Use - attention is drawn to how the grammar is used.
Here is an example of a deductive lesson:
The teacher introduces the concept of Past Perfect – writes on board.

The teacher explains the form. For example, ‘The Past Perfect is formed from the auxiliary verb ‘have’ plus the past participle.’.
Teacher checks the form e.g. ‘What is the past participle of ‘go’?’, and waits for a reply.
Teacher explains use e.g. ‘The Past Perfect is used when you are talking about the past and you want to refer to an earlier
point in the past.’.
Teacher gives examples of the tense.
Teacher checks the concept.
Teacher draws a time line.
Practice activities follow.
23. The Inductive Approach
Inductive learning is the way a rst language is acquired.
Inductive learning involves exposure to a large amount of input in which the patterns of the language become evident.
The learner studies examples of language use and derives an understanding of the rules from these.
Natural language acquisition in uences approaches such as the Direct Method to encourage the teaching of English without
explicit reference to grammatical rules.
Approaches such as Situational Learning Teaching sought to generate situations in which the language is clear.
Students studied the examples with the teacher guiding them to reach the grammatical rules.
Developments in language learning have promoted the use of guided discovery, in which learners are given examples to
analyse, and guided by the teacher to analyse language and draw conclusions about language use.
Discovery learning involves a cycle of trial and error with guidance and feedback from the teacher.
Inductive learning can be done through the analysis of sample sentences or by using reading or listening texts.
When using texts, the students read or listen for comprehension, then analyse the text for grammatical forms.
Re ective 4
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an inductive
approach to learning?
Advantages Disadvantages
The advantages of an inductive approach are as follows: (22)
Rules learners discover for themselves are more likely to be memorable for learners.
The mental e ort involved in working out the rules ensures greater memorability.
Students are more actively involved in the learning process.
It is an approach which favours pattern-recognition and problem-solving.
If the problem-solving is done collaboratively, students get extra language practice in the target language.
Working things out for themselves encourages learner autonomy. Learners will then, hopefully, show greater autonomy
outside the class by independently reading and listening to texts, working out the meaning of language in context.
The disadvantages of an inductive approach include:
Time and energy is involved in working out rules.

The time taken to work out rules might be at the expense of time spent on productive practice.
Students may hypothesise the wrong rule.
It places a heavy demand on teachers planning lessons.
Many language areas such as aspect and modality resist easy rule formulation.
An inductive approach frustrates learners who prefer to be told the rule.
Language limitations may make it di cult to use the inductive approach with lower level learners.
An example of an inductive lesson is as follows.
The teacher gives students examples of Present Simple and Present Continuous sentences.
Students analyse the sentences collaboratively and decide on rules.
Teacher gives feedback on the rules and guides in the correct direction.
Students re-analyse the sentences if needed.

Rules are drawn and language then practised.
An example of an inductive lesson using a text is as follows.
Students read an extract from a short story and answer comprehension questions.
Students underline all uses of narrative tenses – Past Simple, Past Continuous and Past Perfect.
Students analyse the example sentences for rules.
Teacher gives feedback on the rules and more guidance on the rules.
Students re-analyse for rules.
Rules are drawn and language then practised.
24. Context Setting
As discussed previously, it is important to set a context, especially when presenting language in a situational context.
Context setting is useful when:
Students are at a low level and the teacher wants to keep extraneous language to a minimum.
If the meaning and use of the language is complex then clear, simple and generative context is needed to illustrate the
meaning.
If a single language item is being introduced.
To create a natural and memorable context the students can relate to.
To bolster understanding.
To generate and provide students with several examples of grammatical form.
To engage students.
To challenge students who claim to ‘know’ grammatical structures but who are unable to produce these structures naturally.
Give students examples of real language.
Focus on function rather than just form. This is particularly important when grammatical forms have multiple functions.
A good context is one which is:
Natural.
Unambiguous.
Engaging.
Related to the students’ lives.
Generative, many examples can be made from the context.
Clear and simple.
Memorable.
Student-involving.
Activity 14
For each of the following grammatical structures exempli ed

below, produce a simple, memorable and unambiguous context.
The aim is to elicit the target language with the aim of presenting
then practising the language.
1. Wish + past simple for hypothetical meeting – for example,

'I wish I had a million pounds.'
2. Present Perfect for actions started in the past and
continuing to the present – for example, 'I’ve been married
for 10 years.'
3. Present Continuous for future, planned arrangements – for
example, 'I’m playing tennis at the weekend.'
Suggested Answers
1. Situation of a woman looking at a bill – wants to

change her current situation – other ideas generated
could be ‘I wish I had new clothes’ – students then talk
about their wishes
2. A person’s life story – other ideas ‘I’ve known him for 5
years.’ – students then talk about their life stories
3. Using a diary lled with arrangements and plans. –
other ideas generated could be ‘I’m watching a lm
tonight.’ – students then talk about their arrangements
25. How to Practise Grammar
Concept checking
Once target language has been elicited from context, it is important to check that students fully understand the target
language.
Concepts can be checked in the following ways:
Timelines
Concept questions
Timelines are an e ective way of checking understanding of grammatical tenses and their relationship with time.
The basic diagram consists of a straight line which can be labelled as necessary:
Crosses can be used to represent single or repeated actions and wavy lines to represent continuous actions.
Perfect, or completed action, can be represented by an arrow pointing backwards.
Continuous actions can be represented by an arrow pointing down.
An example is below:
Concept questions are designed to:
Highlight the meaning of the new language item.

Focus attention on meaning.
Be simple and easy to understand and answer.
Be answered with a yes or no.
Be repeated at any time of the lesson to clarify meaning.
Checking understanding by just asking students ‘Do you understand?’ is a poor way of checking understanding.
It is likely that students will just say ‘yes’ to save face or to please you.
Alternatively, they may think they understand but have grasped the wrong meaning of a structure.
Concept questions should not use the target language you are going to teach.
You should be able to write 3 statements about the target language, then turn these statements into yes/no questions.
For example,
Model sentence: ‘She used to smoke’.

Three statements to describe the meaning behind this statement are:
She smoked in the past.

She smoked often or a lot.
She doesn’t smoke now.
Turn these statements into questions:

Did she smoke in the past? Yes
Did she smoke often? Yes
Does she smoke now? No
Ask the questions – if an incorrect answer is received, further explanation is needed.
Activity 15
Make concept questions for the following model sentences.
1. I’ve lived here for 10 years.

2. I had my suit cleaned.
Suggested Answers
1. Did you live there in the past? Yes

Do you live here now? Yes
Do you think you will live here in the future? Yes
2. Did someone clean your suit? Yes
Did you clean it yourself? No
Did you pay? Yes
I’d travel around the world.

The lottery.
Won the lottery.
If I won the lottery.
If I won the lottery, I’d travel around the world.
A successful drill will follow this pattern.
Choral drill. Teacher models and all students repeat.

Individual drill. Teacher models and gestures to individuals to repeat.
Open pairs. Student repeats then gestures to another student to repeat and so on. This also works with questions and
answers with one student drilling the question and the other the answer.
Closed pairs. Students repeat the target language to each other in pairs, teacher goes round and monitors individual drills.
Instant or ‘hot’ correction is used by the teacher during the drills to focus on accuracy.
If students are having pronunciation issues with one part of the structure, the teacher can focus on that part and provide extra
drilling practice.
26. Drilling
Drilling is a technique developed in the Audio-Lingual Method, in which the teacher models the target language clearly and the
students repeat that language.
Drilling takes place once the target language has been presented through context and the model sentence elicited.
Activity 16
Watch the video clip below in which a teacher presents

language through a context, elicits the target language and
uses di erent drilling techniques to provide controlled
techniques. (9mins)
TESOL/TEFL training: Teaching a Gram…

Gram…
Drilling is a useful technique to provide learners with controlled practice of form and focuses on pronunciation.
It maximises student talking time and gives students chance to practise in a group without embarrassment and with support
from the teacher.
To drill correctly, teachers need to:
Repeat each utterance naturally.

Give a clear starting signal for example throw you arms up as if you are conducting an orchestra.
After a successful chorus, beckon individual learners to repeat using peer correction is necessary.
Use instant ‘hot’ error correction appropriately, focusing on accuracy.
Pitfalls for the unwary include:
Drilling long utterances.

Inconsistent stress and intonation patterns.
Repeating while students repeat so you can’t hear them.
Spending too much time on drilling so they become boring.
Drilling unnecessary language.
Drilling mechanically i.e. drilling for the sake of drilling with no real focus on how the drill is bene tting learners.
A technique for drilling more complex structures is back-chaining or drilling in short chunks starting at the end of the sentence.
For example, if your model sentence is, ‘If I won the lottery, I’d travel around the world.’, the sentence can be back-chained in
the following way with students repeating each utterance as it becomes longer and longer.
Around the world.

Travel around the world.
27. Accuracy-focused activities
Grammatical practice is needed to ensure that students can use the language presented to them either deductively or
inductively.
The aims of practising language are:
Accuracy-focused – using the language accurately.

Fluency-focused – using the language naturally.
To achieve accuracy, learners need to devote attention to form.
To focus on form, learners need to be familiar with meaning.
Learners also need to appreciate the value of focusing on accuracy i.e. without accuracy learners risk being unintelligible and
communication breaking down.
A good accuracy-focused practice activity will have the following characteristics:
Attention to form.
Familiarity.
Thinking time.
Feedback.
Examples of accuracy-focused activities are as follows:
A rmative/negative/questions. Students are given a sentence and asked to write the question form or the negative form.
This helps to practise the mechanics of form.
Matching/categorising exercises. Students are given six sentences using di erent grammatical forms. Students match the
sentences to the correct grammatical tense.
Matching sentence halves. Matching the beginning of sentences to the end of sentences.
Gap lling activities. E.g. ‘If I ________the lottery, I would ________ .’
Cloze test. A gap ll with random words gapped out – This is good for practising language with higher levels.
Multiple choice. E.g. ‘Choose the right word for the sentence – If I won the lottery I _________ travel around the world’ a)
would b) will c) to.
Put one word from a list into a multi-gapped text. For example, ‘When he _____ the beautiful woman in the bar, he _____ up
to her and _____ her if she _____ a drink. Unfortunately, she _____ ‘no’. SAID/WANTED/WENT/ASKED/SAW.
Word change. E.g. ‘If I ______(win) the lottery…’.

Reformulation. For example, ‘Rewrite the following sentence ‘He eats sh but not meat’ Although….. (Although he eats sh,
he doesn’t eat meat.’).
Change a sentence to a di erent time, aspect or voice. E.g. ‘She’s dancing’ – ‘She was dancing’.
Rearrange words to make a sentence. E.g. ‘you very I much love’ – I love you very much.
Using key words to make a sentence. E.g. ‘despite/bad headache/I/go/school’ – Despite having a bad headache, I went to
school.
Find and correct the mistake. E.g. ‘When I will visit you, I’ll see your new at’ – mistake is extra ‘will’ in the main clause – the
correct sentence should be ‘When I visit you, I’ll see your new at’.
Dictation. Say a sentence at natural speed and ask learners to write down – some unstressed words will be di cult to hear
so students will need to use their knowledge of form to write correct sentences.
With monolingual classes you can also use translation into their rst language to check meaning.
28. Fluency-focused activities
Fluency is the ability to process language speedily and easily.
Fluency develops as the learner learns to use the language naturally.
Practice activities aimed at developing uency need to divert attention away from form.
One way of doing this is to prepare tasks which focus primarily on meaning.
A good uency-focused activity needs to have the following characteristics:
Focus attention on meaning.

Authenticity.
Communicative purpose.
Use repetition to make sure students fully practise the item so it can be used naturally.
Examples of uency-focused activities are as follows:
Information gap activities. Students have two texts or pictures with di erent information missing from each text. Students
must answer questions to their partner to nd the information. For example, the complete sentence in a text may be ‘John
Lennon was born in 1940 in Liverpool.’. Student A may have the following information ‘John Lennon was born in 1940 in
_______ while student B has the following information ‘John Lennon was born in ______ in Liverpool.’. They both need to ask
questions to nd the missing information.
Problem-solving task. Students are presented with a problem to solve and need to use the target language to discuss the
problem. For example, students may have a list of equipment to take with them to a desert island then decide which items
are the most necessary for example ‘If we took the rope, we could use it to…’.
Role-play. Students are given a role-play. The main aim is to communicate to achieve an aim but they need to use the target
language in order to do this for example a role-play in which students are attending a job interview and need to answer
questions with ‘have you ever…’ for example, ‘Have you ever used a computer?’.
Group work task. Students are given a task to complete, for example, organising a party. They use the target language to
give suggestions and o ers for example ‘I’ll bring the balloons’ ‘Why don’t we hire a band?’ and so on.
Giving opinions. Set up a debate to discuss the pros and cons of an argument, for example, ‘I think we should ban fox-
hunting’.
Group writing. Students write a story with prompts to practise narrative tenses.
Real life communication. Encourage students to use the real world environment if possible, for example, order a co ee at
the local café, interview a member of sta or a fellow student.
Surveys and reports. Students prepare questions then prepare a summary or short report, for example, 10 people in our
class have been to China.
Personalisation activities. Any type of personalised discussion works well as students focus on what they want to
communicate, focusing on meaning rather than form.
29. References
'Ibid' means a reference has quoted work from the previously used reference.
1. Harmer, J (1999) How to teach grammar, Longman

2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Ibid
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
12. Ibid
13. Ibid
14. Ibid
15. Thornbury, S (1997) About Language, Cambridge University Press
16. Ibid
17. Ibid
18. Ibid
19. Ibid
20. Ibid
21. Harmer, J (1999) How to teach grammar, Longman
22. Ibid
30. Further Reading
Harmer, J (1999) How to teach grammar, Longman
Flower, J (1993) Phrasal Verb Organiser, Heinle
Murphy, R, (1994) English Grammar in Use, Cambridge Univeristy Press
Scrivener, J (2011) Learning Teaching (3rd Edition), Macmillan, Oxford
Swan, M (1995) Practical English Usage (2nd edition) Oxford University Press
Swan, M & Smith, B (2001) Learner English (3rd Edition) Cambridge University Press
Swan, M & Walter, C (2001) The Good Grammar Book, Oxford University Press
Thornbury, S (1997) About Language, Cambridge University Press
31. Useful Websites
Global English, Teaching a Grammatical Structure
TESOL/TEFL training: Teaching a Gram…

Gram…

Teaching Grammar TEFL

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6. Why Teach Grammar?

8. Basic principles for grammar teaching

9. The English Grammar System

10. Word classes and phrases

11. Sentence level

12. Negatives and questions

13. The verb phrase

14. Time and tense

15. Aspect – Continuous and Perfect

16. Voice – Active and Passive

19. Hypothetical meaning and conditionals

21. Approaches to Presenting Grammar

22. The Deductive Approach

23. The Inductive Approach

24. Context Setting

25. How to Practise Grammar

27. Accuracy-focused activities

28. Fluency-focused activities

30. Further Reading

31. Useful Websites

How would you de ne the term ‘grammar’?

The words in turn are sounds when spoken.

The order of words in each sentence is also fairly xed.

‘Beep after a leave the message.’

The sounds in each word are also xed.

‘I am not at home now.’ ‘Now I am not at home.’

‘Not I at home now am.’ ‘I is not at home now.’

‘Not I at home now am.’

‘I is not at home now.’

1 = noun (subject of the sentence)

Syntax rules do not allow these chains.

Rearrange the words or slots to create correct chains or syntax

‘I want that your agency return me the money.’

‘I have chosen to describe Stephen Hawking, a notorious scienti c of our time.’

For example, consider the sentence below.

‘My uncle jumps every year.’

‘This is 01619941222. I am home now. Leave a message after the beep.’

Another aspect of grammar is, therefore, its meaning-making potential.

Meaning can be communicated through grammar and vocabulary.

However, if contextual information is lacking, grammar is needed to make meaning clear.

Representational meaning re ects the way we perceive the world.

What are the representational meanings of the words or phrases

1. The children were playing the garden.

Father Do you drink?

‘You should go to the doctor.’

The same form can be used to express a range of di erent functions.

‘If you do that, you’ll be in trouble.’

Grammatical structures can be placed under the functional labels below:

Habits and routines.

Look at the following groups of forms and decide which function

I used to play football.

You can't smoke here.

Let’s go to the cinema.

If I hadn’t got married too young, I

1. Habits and routines

There are a number of considerations to think about when teaching grammar.

Usefulness may sometimes depend on the speci c needs of the learners.

Logic dictates that the less complex structures be taught rst.

6. Why Teach Grammar?

Pros and cons of teaching grammar

The pros are as follows:

The cons are as follows: